Spring
by welsee
Summary: Beautiful version of Chloris and Zephyros' affair, POV of the lovely Aphrodite. PLEASE REVIEW!


SPRING

There came a time on Mount Olympus, when Zephyros greeted the sky with a burst of energy, driving the harsh winter clouds away, blowing them to the far east corner of the earth. Encouraged by the clear sky, Lord Helios began to shine brighter during his morning chariot ride across the heavens, and as the world lightened, beautiful Apollo smiled, warming the rocky ground and covering it in a silky, rose-gold dew.

One such day, Lady Aphrodite woke from her slumber with a purpose.

Neither Hephaestus nor her lover Ares slept beside her on the canopied mattress. Aphrodite stretched and yawned, twisting her pale-pink silk blankets into a mess at the foot of the bed. She opened her eyes, and her sight landed first on the expansive marbled wall to her left. The wall was hardly a wall at all; rather a line of gigantic windows strung together with carved ivory columns. The magnificently detailed baseboard and ceiling lining had been carved by Olympian palace artists specifically for the Lady, and were set with a strew of shimmering zinc dust and a spray of amethyst cuttings. Sighing at the beauty of a new day, Aphrodite rolled out of her low-set golden bed and onto the white and gray marble floor. She padded lazily towards the window-wall, and smiled at the view.

The Olympian palace was situated on the highest peak of the highest mountain in the Grecian land. Aphrodite's chamber faced the east. Patches of dusty-green pines and shrubs spilled down the mountainside, which ended in a large, shallow pond filled with reeds and water plants. The calm morning song of mountain crickets, tree birds and pond frogs travelled up the mountain to Aphrodite's ears. Helios had long since been above the palace, for the dreamy blue sky was bright with sunshine.

But something was different this morning: she could see tiny, pale groupings of pink and red blossoms trailing through the shrub patches, and the sweet taste of change blew through the huge windows of her chamber: more sugary than an ocean breeze, but stronger than the coming of rain.

_Yes,_ she decided, _I think today _must _be the day._

--

As if by magic, Aphrodite's palace nymphs spilled in through the tall ivory doors to her chamber, twittering with gossip of maiden Persephone and her simply _wretched_ uncle Hades, and all tangled in a cloud of engraved looking-glasses, lavendar ribbons, pots of earthy sachets, boars' hair brushes, and fresh fruit from the valley.

"Lady!" trilled Agape, a beautiful Epimeliad, one of Aphrodite's favorite attendants. "We've come with your breakfast, and dressing-things!"

"Wonderful," spoke the Goddess. "Come over here, please. Welcome! Oh, hello, Callidora! I see you've brought some apples… lovely…!"

When the nymphs had finished arranging her shining, yellow tendrils to frame her pale white face and had brushed bronze dust over her sea-foam colored eyes, Aphrodite bid thanks and farewell to her friends. She packed a pile of fresh apples and scented clovers into a patterned indigo scarf and was on her way.

--

She trekked down the mountain to the meadow where beautiful Chloris was usually found. The clearing was filled with knee-high grasses that perfumed the air with a thick, fresh smell when they were crushed beneath the Goddess' bare toes. Here and there, clusters of bright purple buds had begun to bloom. Tall pines and sycamores enclosed the grassy sward, and Aphrodite could see small bird families peeking out from the branches. Dark green ivy grew up and down the trunks.

"Chloris!" called Aphrodite. "Chloris! Come out from hiding and greet an old friend. Chloris!"

There was a rustling in the nearby trees, followed by a shower of pine needles and newly-hatched leaves. A golden figure stepped through the shadows and out into the clearing.

"Oh, Aphrodite!" screamed the girl. "How I have missed you!"

The pair embraced and laughed at the sight of one another. "Sweet Chloris, your presence has been sorely missed." The nymph grinned at her friend through messy twists of dark gold hair teeming with budding wildflowers and a spattering of freckles. "Now really. You know why I've come. Tell me all!"

--

There came a time on the earth when strong Zephyros became restless of the dull winter skies, and took a trip from the western corner of the earth down to this same grassy clearing. Here he would meet this same nymph, Chloris, and lie with her in a soft bed of reeds and mosses. And from this union budded Spring; strong Zephyros would blow the harsh winter clouds to the opposite corner of the earth and sweet Chloris would strew the earth with a rainbow of flora and a torrent of green. Gods, mortals, and animals alike would rejoice at the glory of the season, and come out of their dwellings to celebrate the beauty.

--

As the pair of friends lay among the saccharine grasses, all talked and giggled out, crunching on the firm apples Aphrodite had brought, smooth white clouds danced in the bright-blue sky.

"The wheel is turning," murmured Chloris.

"It is. It always is. And spring is here once again."


End file.
